The owner of Carragher’s Bar in New York, dedicated to Liverpool FC legend Jamie Carragher, wants to create another Scouse-US connection ... by rescuing the Statue of Liberty on Lime Street and shipping it to Manhattan.

Reds fan Brian Mclaughlin owns Carragher’s near Times Square, which opened last year, and four other Irish American bars in New York - one on the West side, one on the East and three in the Financial District.

He was a regular at Irish American Bar on Lime Street, known to generations of Liverpool fans as the Yankee, when he came here for home games and always admired the Lady Liberty statue which stands proudly above the sign.

But when the bar closed, as plans for the area’s regeneration moved on, he was worried for the statue’s future and decided to offer her a new home at his bar near the World Trade Center.

The Statue of Liberty above the closed American bar on Lime Street (Photo: Photo by Colin Lane)

“I still go over to Liverpool three or four times a year and, although I’m from Belfast originally, I talk about it as home. When I got off the train at Lime Street, the Irish American Bar was always one of the first places I went to,” says Brian, who moved to live in New York 17 years ago.

“When I wasn’t admiring the ceiling in The Crown I was in the Irish American because it felt like good luck for me. It seemed like such an obvious name to call a bar in New York so I registered the name here, and when I had chance and I was opening a bar big enough to be worthy of it, I used it.

“Then when I came back to Liverpool just before Christmas I saw the Lime Street bar was closed and it was sad to see it abandoned. No-one had taken down the statue, so I just didn’t want it to get forgotten about or anyone to throw it away.”

Jamie Carragher toasts the opening of Carragher's Pub in New York

43-year-old Brian says he doesn’t believe it has any value - “it’s probably plastic and it’s quite big, four or five foot high, so it’ll cost me more to ship it to America than it’s worth, but I’d love to have it,” he laughs. “I’ll try and put it outside the bar if I get it, there is plenty of room for it, but it’s tricky with planning regulations here so if I have to I’ll find a great place for it inside.”

All Brian now has to do is find the statue’s owner and make the offer, which is where the Echo comes in. If anyone currently owns her, or knows who does, they can get in touch with Brian via email on kingkennyseven@aol.com - and hopefully it can find a new lucky home in time for Liverpool’s Europa League clash with Borussia Dortmund!

The Statue of Liberty above the now closed Irish American bar on Lime Street (Photo: Photo by Colin Lane)